Rumors
by GordonLachance17
Summary: Cassandra Kennith has just moved to Castle Rock with her rich parents who move up onto the view. Who is the first person Cass meets? Chris Chambers of course. She becomes friends with him and the gang, but the only problem is her parents. They know about Chris' bad rep in the town and don't want her seeing him. THE STORY IS NOW COMPLETE
1. Castle Rock

My name is Cassandra. I'm 12 years old, have dark chocolate brown hair and brown eyes. I wear glasses, have long eyelashes, and am NOT girly. For me, the highest insult anyone could ever give me is calling me girly.  
I've lived in Chicago, Illinois my whole life, and I know no other place as home. But just two weeks ago, my parents dropped the bombshell on me.  
"We're moving to Castle Rock, Oregon."  
My response wasn't exactly glamorous, but I'm not that kind of girl, "Where the hell is that?"  
I mean, who has ever heard of a place called Castle Rock? I knew right off the bat that this location wasn't going to work out for me at all.  
See, I asked my parents why they would possibly want to move to such a random place. They told me they wanted to get away from the city and live somewhere quieter and peaceful, someplace with huge hills and open fields.  
But I was shocked. My parents are rich. I know that makes me sound like some stupid stuck up, snobby girl, but I'm not. I've always been known at school for being one of the nicest people ever, but of course everyone has mean moments.  
Anyway, I try to be as nice as I can to people, even if they are annoying the shit out of me.

So now there I was, in a car with my parents driving to an unknown little town in the middle of nowhere. I had a right to be a little upset, didn't I? Sigh, I just didn't want to get used to a whole new life with completely different people surrounding me. I had had friends in Chicago and I hated leaving them. Who knew what types of people were awaiting me where I was headed? Yeah, sounds harsh and I know not to judge before I even know someone, but I couldn't help it.

It was late at night when we got there and for being mid-summer, it was quite chilly stepping out of the car. I was half asleep, so I didn't have much of a chance to see where the hell I had landed. I just grabbed my jacket from the back seat and wrapped it tightly around me to keep from freezing. I headed into the house quickly and didn't bother looking at it from the outside to see what it looked like. But I could easily tell it was huge. This was no surprise. My parents may have wanted a quieter, less stressful life, but they didn't want to give up having a huge home.  
I personally hated being rich. When you're rich people think of you as some sort of snob who's always well dressed. But again, I'm not like that. I wear jeans and a t-shirt and no shoes when I go outside just like the next small town kid.  
So now, in the darkness of the night, I found my way into the house, didn't bother to turn on a light, and walked up the stairs. I crashed through the second floor until I found a bedroom to sleep in.  
It took me what seemed like forever to get to a room that actually resembled a bedroom and when I did, I immediately fell onto the bed and fell asleep.  
Just seconds before I crashed, I thought about the next day and told myself I would explore the town then.  
Who knew what lie ahead of me?


	2. The Chambers Kid

**Hey guys! I would like to dedicate this chapter to 2 people. I was going to dedicate it to them in the first chapter, but then I forgot.**

**IAmChrisChambers823 and CherryPezFoo**

**IAmChrisChambers823: She is my bestest friend and that is one of the reasons I should dedicate to her. But she also dedicated to me before and besides, she helps with chapter ideas sometimes. She supports my writing and I support her. Thank you so much Chris!**

**CherryPezFoo: She has become a great fanfiction friend, has PMed me many times, always said she can't wait to read and review, and been supportive. Thank you so much Cherry for that. **

**Now for Chapter 2…**

I headed out the next morning to explore the town. It was a really quiet, hot day in Castle Rock and now I could get a good look at how it was here.  
The streets were vacant, but I didn't want anyone bothering me anyway.  
I leisurely walked through the small downtown area to see the shops and what this place had to offer. I strode passed many rusted out old signs, which to me made this town seem like some abandoned ancient place. Only a few of the shops were open anyway, revealing a couple of the citizens of Castle Rock. I hadn't come across any people my age yet, which left me with a sinking feeling in my stomach.  
I walked past a diner. I could tell that it was usual a popular hang out but for some reason, the whole town was deserted.  
I was thinking this just as I saw someone that caught my eye. He looked to be my age, with golden blonde hair. But it was hard to tell what other features he had because he was running away from someone. I felt suddenly exposed walking down the middle of an empty street with a kid running directly towards me ad someone behind him.  
I heard the yelling, "Chambers, you little faggot!"  
The guy who was chasing him looked much older and he had dark, gelled back hair.  
The kid called Chambers was now only a few yards away and I was planning on swerving to the side for him to pass, but I was stuck to my place.  
He almost crashed right into me but his eyes landed on mine just before hand.  
"Oh sorry," he mumbled, shocked.  
"No problem," I said back shyly, diverting my eyes from his gaze.  
His chaser was still coming towards him. He held a pocket knife in his hand and he was sweating so much that I could see the sweat soaked through all over his shirt.  
I was expecting Chambers to continue running but he didn't. He stayed right next to me.  
"Aren't you gonna run?" I asked.  
"Nah, it's fine. He doesn't have the guts to kill me." he was out of breath and I almost wanted to laugh.  
The guy with the knife finally stopped in front of us.  
"Chambers, you little, you-"  
Apparently he couldn't find words.  
"Who's this?" the guy asked him.  
I felt awkward because Chambers didn't know who I was and I wasn't really comfortable telling this guy either.  
He shrugged in response.  
"Look, I'm gonna tell Ace about this and he ain't gonna like it." and with that, he walked away.

"Who's Ace? Who's that?" I asked quickly not really caring that I didn't even know the kid I was talking to.  
"Ace is the leader of the Cobras. They're a gang, the most stupid ass gang around. That was Billy Tessio. He's mad because I boosted his car with Vern today." the Chambers kid told me.  
I gave him a confused look.  
"Vern's a friend of mine." he answered my unspoken question, "And I'm Chris Chambers."  
He stuck out his hand for me to shake. I took it.  
"Are you new here? That's a stupid question. Of course you are. This town is smaller than rat's ass."  
"Yeah, I just moved yesterday. I'm not too happy about it but you know..."  
"Oh, sorry. Castle Rock sure is one hell of a place to land. It's kinda a shit hole." Chris said with a small smile.  
"Yeah, I've noticed." I smiled back, "Well I gotta go. My parents at probably wondering where I am."  
"Oh ok, we'll quick piece of advice. Stay away from the Cobras okay? You don't wanna be near those guys." he had grabbed a hold of my arm and looked me in the eyes.  
For the first time I got a good look at him. He had gentile green/blue eyes and a kind face. But I could tell he was poor and he had been through a lot. His clothes were old and torn. But he was well built ad strong, tan as well. The one thing I couldn't tell was what had made him so tough, what had hurt him and made him like this. I so badly wanted to know.  
"Ok, thanks. Well see ya." I said to him.  
"Not if I see you first." he winked.  
My heart fluttered for a quick second, but I thought nothing of it.


	3. A Chambers?

I went back home, trying to figure out what I thought of this kid. I wanted to know why he looked like he did. I had noticed a few bruises and cuts on his arms and his face and I decided on one thing. He got beaten, and it was most likely by his father. I felt so bad for Chris. He seemed so sweet even though I could tell he had built up a toughness to deal with things like this.  
I got home and for some reason, it was already noon. Time had seemed to fly and my parents were awake.  
But they weren't happy.  
"Cassandra, where have you been?!" My mom yelled at me. At the time I didn't understand why my mom would get so worked up over me taking a walk. But now I do. I now realize that my mom knew a lot more about the small town then I did. She knew about the gangs, such as the Cobras whom Chris had told me about. My mom knew the dangers.  
"Cassandra, answer my question! Where have you been?" she asked me.  
I responded with, "I was just taking a walk around town to see how it is here."  
"I see. Well don't ever do that again without permission." she told me sternly. If anyone had seen my mom yelling at me like this and treating me like a child, I would have been utterly humiliated.  
Then my mom added in a calmer tone, "Did you meet anyone your age?"  
I nodded, "Actually yes. His name is Chris Chambers."  
My mom gasped suddenly, "A Chambers?" she turned to my dad who was just entering the living room.  
"What about a chambers?" he asked.  
"She's befriended a Chambers."  
I was confused. How would my parents already know about him and why did they call him by his last name? I didn't like the way she was pronouncing it, as if she were talking about a shit heap instead of a human being.  
"What's going on?" I asked them, annoyed. But they seemed spaced out.  
"Mom!" I yelled and she snapped out of it.  
"Cassandra, don't ever go near that boy again. Do you understand me?" now my dad was talking.  
"What? Why?" this was absolutely ridiculous.  
"He comes from a bad family and he's a bad kid. Just promise me you won't talk to him."  
I didn't know what else to do at the moment, so I promised.


	4. Guilt and Regret

I didn't keep that promise. In fact, I couldn't even manage to keep it for a whole 24 hours. The next day I woke up and asked if I could walk around town again or go into the woods.  
I was surprised when my mom said that yes, I could go out on my own. But before I left, she gave me a look that told me I better not be talking or seeing the "Chambers Kid". I nodded at her, looking a little upset I figured.  
I walked out into the bright day full of opportunities.  
I hadn't actually meant to run into Chris. I didn't want to disobey my parents, but I couldn't help the fact that he was walking through town just when I was.  
"Oh shit," I mumbled to myself when I saw him walking towards me.  
"Hey!" he shouted and waved at me.  
I tried keeping my head down and walking on, but he caught my arm.  
"Is something wrong?"  
It was like he was reading me, "No, I'm fine." I tried to sound happy.  
He seemed to believe it, "Hey, I don't know your name."  
I almost had to laugh, "Cassandra."  
"Cassandra." he repeated it with a whisper, "That's pretty."  
I smiled at him. By now I had basically completely forgotten what my mom and dad had told me.  
I walked through town with him and learned more about him, including what I had been wanting to know, how he got his scars and bruises. And I had been right. It was his father. He didn't seem to mind at all talking about it. He didn't hesitate when he talked about it, and I guessed that he had to tell people about it thousands of other times.  
Much of the day had passed already when I remembered what my mom had said and I turned to Chris, "I'm sorry. I have to go."  
Then I turned around and ran back home, the guilt beginning to rush to me. I looked back at the Chambers kid, disappearing behind me. He looked confused, unsure, probably thinking he had done something wrong. I wished he wouldn't look like that and I wished I had never told my mother about him.

I reached the house on the view completely out of breath, knowing that I would have to sneak past my mom.

And the next day, I would need to avoid Chris.


	5. Drawing Chris

I managed to completely avoid my mother once I got home. I decided to stay in my room the rest of the afternoon to avoid any confrontation. I didn't want my mom to find out about me seeing Chris again, or I couldn't even imagine what would happen to me.  
I sat on my bed and got out my sketch pad. Drawing was my biggest hobby and it was great for when I was bored. It seemed to take me to a different place, and before I knew it, time had flown.  
Now I sat with the pad in front of me, my hand flowing freely over the paper. I had no control over it what so ever. And I began to sketch. At first I didn't know what I was doing, but after a few minutes I began to recognize a familiar face. I was drawing Chris.

The next day I tried to stay in the house, but I got bored so quickly. I was living in the boring side of Castle Rock. It was what people in that town called "The View" where the rich people lived. I hated living there because I felt like everyone in this little town loathed me even though I had barely met anyone. I knew for sure that the people in Castle Rock didn't like the snobby rich people who lived up on the View.  
It really bothered me.  
But that day, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stay where I was. I was itching to see Chris and itching to just be outside.  
So I went. This time my parents were out both looking for a job a few miles away, though they didn't really care since they were wealthy anyway.  
It was a nice day again. The sun shone through the trees and the slight breeze made the leaves swirl.  
This was my favorite type of weather, when nature feels so at peace.  
I strolled down and out of the View with a breath of relief. I wanted to get to know the town more but most of all. I wanted to know why my parents didn't want me to see Chris. There was nothing wrong with him from what I could tell. He had been super sweet to me. There were so many things I just couldn't process or understand.

I so desperately wanted to see him. The drawing the day before had turned out perfect, one of my best ones ever. But it wasn't as good as the real thing.  
So I scoured the town, itching with the desire to see the green eyed big with golden blonde hair.  
And it was as if I had been heard, my prayers had been answered.  
I had been walking through the little downtown area and there I saw him in the distance. The sign he was sitting under said "Blue Point Diner". Chris was sitting at the entrance, hands on his knees with a cigarette in his mouth, and for a moment I was stunned.  
I thought to myself, "If only my mom knew..."  
I had never seen someone so young smoke before.  
But I approached him. The sun was glinting off the roofs of the small shops and Chris was squinting. When he saw me he lit up and motioned for me to sit beside him.  
He was quiet for a moment as he took a drag from his cigarette.  
Then he spoke.


	6. The Smoker

"Why'd you run off so quickly yesterday?"  
"Oh great," I thought to myself.  
"Umm, well," I had my hands clamped together and my palms were beginning to sweat.  
"You found out didn't you?" he asked me calming. But I pretended to not know what he was talking about, "What do you mean?"  
He laughed, "You know what I mean. I'm a no good Chambers kid. You know."  
"Ok yes, but it's not that I don't want to hang out with you. It's my parents. I told them that I met you the first day and they told me-"  
"To never come near me again." Chris finished the sentence for me and I nodded.  
"I want you to know, I'm not like the rest of my family. I've been trying to show that to this town, but they don't care and don't wanna hear it. I want to be different from my family, because none of them have gotten anywhere in life."  
I felt so bad for him when he talked like this. I could see he was itching to be free of this place, but be was trapped, like in a prison.  
We sat silently for a little while.  
"I want to hang out with you, but I'm afraid my parents will find out and I don't want them getting upset. Because if they get upset about something they'll do something about it and that always causes chaos. Who knows, they might even come after you," I looked him in the eye.  
He laughed, "I wouldn't worry so much about that. I'm not really afraid of parents considering my father beats me all the time."  
I almost had to laugh too, but I knew that would be rude even if he was joking about it.  
"Wanna trade?" Chris said.  
"What?"  
"Parents," he replied.  
Now I laughed, "You're kidding. You'd rather have my "up on the view" rich parents that can't stand you?"  
"Yeah," he shrugged, "anything but a drunken lunatic."  
He took another drag from his cigarette and I watched the smoke rise into the sun.  
"Want one?" he asked, holding out a pack.  
"No thanks," I said, scrunching my nose.  
"You've never smoked?" he smiled, in a making fun of me way.  
"Nope, and I'm not planning on it."  
"Why don't you just try?" he pleaded with me, still holding out the pack.  
I was hesitant for a few moments but I finally, reluctantly took a cigarette.  
Chris held out the lighter for me and held it to it.  
I now put the cigarette in my mouth and almost immediately started coughing, as if I were choking.  
Chris laughed as I took the smoking thing out of my mouth with disgust on my face.  
"Nope, you're definitely not a smoker," Chris smiled at me.  
"Thank god," I replied and handed the smoking stub back to him.  
To my surprise he didn't throw it away, but he put in his own mouth and continued it.  
"Hey wanna come meet the guys?" Chris suddenly asked and he slapped me on the knee.  
"The guys?" I asked.  
"Gordie, Teddy, and Vern. They're my friends."  
"Sure, I guess. But not too long. I don't want my mom to start worrying."  
He got up, burnt out the cigarette and grabbed my hand to pull me up.  
"Come on. I think you'll like them. Or you'll absolutely hate them." he laughed.  
"If they're anything like you, I'll like them."  
He laughed at that response.  
"I guess not." I whispered to myself and Chris continued dragging my by the hand.


	7. Meeting the Gang

I was lead to a pretty ragged looking tree house a top a hill. I could see how this would be a nice hang out though. You wouldn't be bothered there.  
Chris pushed me ahead and motioned for me to knock.  
I did, but my heart was pounding. I knocked twice.  
"That's not the secret knock!" I heard a boy cry.  
"That's ok Gord-o. It's me." Chris shouted.  
"Chris? You never forget the secret knock." I heard the kid who was Gordie mumble.  
"That's because it's not me knocking. I brought someone."  
"What?!" another voice screeched out. And then I heard footsteps shuffling above me.  
The latch above my head was opened and I saw a moppy haired kid with huge glasses.  
He stared at me for an awkwardly long time until Chris came up behind me.  
"Well, who's this?" The kid asked.  
"Questions later." Chris replied, leading me up the ladder.  
When I entered, I saw a dark haired kid with a magazine, lying on a small couch-like thing. Then I saw a chubby kid next to him. There wasn't much I could say about him besides that.  
"These are Gordie, Teddy, and Vern," Chris introduced me to each of the guys and gestured at them.  
I smiled at each awkwardly. They didn't return the gesture. Gordie was too caught up in what he was reading and Vern looked too nervous. The moppy haired kid was just being rude.  
Teddy sat down and got out a deck of cards.  
"Do you play?" he asked me while shuffling them.  
I shook my head a little shyly and kept it tilted downwards. I wasn't good with new people. Chris had just been an exception.  
Apparently that set something loose in Teddy's brain and he gave me a look of utter disbelief.  
He slapped the cards down and looked at Chris, "She doesn't play? Does she smoke?" He was grinning slightly, the type of grin a lunatic gave you.  
"Shut up Teddy. Leave her alone."  
"I don't believe this." Teddy smacked the cards down on the table from frustration.  
His first impression wasn't going so well for him. I already disliked him with all my heart.  
"But what are you playing? I bet I can learn." I said, a little angrily now.  
Teddy laughed. It was a disgusting, super annoying laugh that made me want to slap him.  
"Alright," Teddy said. "It's called gin rummy. Ever heard of it?" He said it rudely.  
"Yes, I've heard of it," I replied as politely as possible but inside, I was boiling.  
So Teddy dealed once he picked the cards back up. He was still shaking his head as if I were the crazy one, instead of him. Chris played along as well and since Teddy didn't have the patience to explain the rules to me, Chris did.  
I caught on pretty quickly and in the end, I beat both the guys.  
I was grinning inside while Teddy stared at me with a crazy look in his eye. He couldn't believe it.


	8. Walking Home

Chris walked me back through town later that day. I was still grinning about beating him and Teddy. Chris was quite stunned as well, but he didn't take these things as seriously as Teddy did, thank goodness.  
"Ignore Teddy. He can really be an ass sometimes."  
"Oh that's fine. I've met plenty of guys like that before. But I do have to admit, his first impression wasn't great. I don't know if I'll be able to like him." I said.  
Chris laughed, "I didn't really like him at the beginning either, but I don't know, we just became friends."  
I nodded.  
"I won't let him bother you though," Chris assured me, "He's just a lunatic."  
He flashed me a smile and I couldn't help but to return it.  
"Hey, you don't have to walk me home." I said.  
"I want to. Don't worry I won't let your parents see me."  
I tried not to look worried, "I'm so sorry."  
I felt like the tears might overflow.  
Chris' voice immediately became comforting, "Hey, what's wrong? What are you sorry about?" he took my face in his hands and pushed my long hair behind me ears.  
"About everything. It's not fair that everyone treats you like they do even though they don't know you. When my parents told me not to hang out with you, I was so confused. You were so nice and I wanted to know why. But it's not fair. It's not fair that my parents don't even know you personally ad they judge you. They just go off all the rumors they hear." I was rambling on and on. I was the one who was supposed to be comforting Chris, but he was comforting me.  
"Gosh, I'm sorry Chris. I shouldn't be crying. I know you've been dealing with this for a long time."  
"it's ok, it's ok." Chris had now lowered me onto the darkening roads' curb. He sat next to me and had his arm around me, "Thanks for caring so much. No one has ever really worried about me. It's nice to know you care." he was saying.  
I wiped a small tear away, "Really? Bu your friends..."  
"Oh well sure, I have them but we don't really talk about it. I mean, we're guys. We ignore it." he was smiling now. I lifted up my head and looked him in the eyes.  
"But don't worry about your parents. I'm used to it, you know." Chris assured me.  
"Yeah. But trust me, I'm not gonna listen to what they say about me not seeing you. Can I come to the tree house again tomorrow?" I asked.  
"Definitely," he answered.  
"Awesome. Well I'll see ya."  
"Not if I see you first." he winked.  
I laughed and began walking towards my house that was just at the end of the road, barely able to contain my excitement for the next day.


	9. Trapped

**This Chapter is dedicated to one of my best friends ever, celestialstarynight. Love you Lesty. This chap is for you because you have given me ideas and supported and reviewed. **

**Pour tu, Tedward the Awesome!**

The next day, I woke up early, even without the alarm clock. I had dreamed about Chris all night and I was restless.

I stood up and quickly threw on some jeans and a shirt. It was nothing special, but then again, these things never were. I was about to open the door to my room, but it was locked from the outside. My parents must have had a key but I didn't understand why they would lock it.  
I shouted through the house, not caring if they were still asleep, "Mom! Dad! Why is the door locked?" I went on for a few more seconds until I heard a stomping through the house.  
My mom was coming and I could hear that she was already dressed, complete with heels.  
The door was unlocked and opened, and I saw my mother looking angry.  
"Mom?" I asked, unsure.  
"You have been grounded," she said with no emotion on her face.  
"What, why?" I asked perplexed.  
"You've been disobeying me. I said very clearly I didn't want you to be seeing this Chambers kid."  
There is was again, the way she said Chambers, with distaste.  
"But mom-"  
"No, I don't want to hear it. I will make sure you don't see this boy again. And for now, if that means keeping you grounded and not letting you out of the house at all, then I'm willing to do that. Now, I have to go to work. I got a job yesterday so I will be gone all afternoon. I won't lock you in your room, but if I find out about you leaving the house, things will not be looking good for you."  
With that, she left. And I was stuck in the huge mansion. I had been so excited to see Chris again, but now I risked my mom's wrath if I left.  
So I miserably sulked all morning. At 7 A.M I started drawing. I drew mostly Chris, but I also drew the tree house, trying to visualize it.  
I drew for about two hours until my hand felt like jelly and I couldn't anymore.  
At 9 I decided to read a little bit. I managed to read for another hour. But by 10 A.M I was aching to get out of the house and to the fresh air. Them I began to wonder how my mom had known I was hanging out with Chris.  
I came to the conclusion that she must have seen us on the curb the night before. I remembered Chris saying he didn't mind the way my parents judged him since he was used to it. And I remembered him saying he wouldn't let them see him. But they had. And it wasn't that that was the problem. The problem was the complete unfairness.  
I sat around for another two hours, trying to see if I could sleep, but I couldn't. Now it was noon, and I so wished that someone would show up. I didn't know when my mom and dad would be back from work so it was out of the question for me to leave now.  
I sighed and flopped down on my bed. For a few minutes I just stared at the ceiling until I heard a noise.  
At first I couldn't tell what it was but when I sat up, I heard and saw rocks hitting my window one by one.  
I jumped up and looked outside.  
I grinned once I saw that it was Chris.


	10. Escaping

I almost jumped out of my skin when I saw him. He was standing below in the back yard with his previous white shirt on and light jeans. He was smiling up at me.  
I motioned for him to come up. My room wasn't very high off the ground so he just climbed up the side of the house. I saw how incredibly strong he was. His muscles were bulging out of his arms.  
"Hey," he said when he reached my window sill.  
"Hey," I said back.  
"So, why are you here? You said you'd come to the tree house."  
"Yeah," I sighed, exasperated, "Look, this morning I woke up and my door was locked. So I called my mom. She opened it and told me I was grounded for seeing you."  
Chris looked shocked, "How did she know?"  
"That's what I was wondering. I guess she must have seen us on the curb last night."  
Chris nodded and swallowed.  
"I'm sorry," he said.  
"No, you shouldn't be sorry." I said immediately, almost shouting, "It's not your fault and it's not a big deal. She should know. Then I won't have the guilt."  
"So can you still come?" Chris asked. He seemed desperate.  
"I don't know," I sighed, "My mom might be home soon."  
Chris put on a pouting face which made me laugh, "Please."  
"Ugh, fine," I smiled, "But if my mom finds out, this time I WILL blame you."  
"Ladies first," Chris pointed towards the window sill so I could climb out.  
I lifted my right leg and put it out the window, finding a spot to stabilize myself. The left leg followed.  
Chris was prepared to help, I could tell, but I didn't need it. I had always loved climbing.  
I started descending the wall and I was almost at the bottom. I could see Chris above me, through the window, still standing in my room.  
I reached the soft green grass and waited for him.  
As Chris climbed out of the window he faced my room one last time and in the far left he saw my drawings, all of them. He saw the drawings I had made of him.  
Even now, 20 years later, I find this absolutely humiliating.  
But he didn't tell me about it immediately. At the time I just saw him smiling from ear to ear. He must have been enjoying the fact.

So we walked together. It was a beautiful day yet again, not too hot. There was a slight breeze blowing and the town was quiet.  
Only we were walking through it, making no noise. I felt like I was completely alone with Chris, almost like it was a dream, and I was scared it was going to slip away.  
We approached the tree house in a matter of minutes and I heard Teddy and Gordie already.  
"Got anything planned?" I asked Chris sweetly.  
"The usual," he laughed. And I took that as meaning sitting around and smoking and playing gin rummy.

But just then Vern came running from behind us, completely out of breath.

His keds were slapping against the ground and he was sweating like I'd never seen before.

"Guys, you won't believe this!"


	11. Hearing About Ray Brower

Vern was completely out of breath. He squashed himself between me and Chris and climbed up the ladder.  
"I've never seen him run that quickly," Chris said, "Actually I've never seen him run at all." He added a laugh.  
Chris followed the excited kid up the ladder and sat in a chair. I came behind him and wondered what could be so fascinating.  
Teddy was smoking a cigarette and Gordie sat on the couch again, reading a detective magazine.  
Vern was rambling at 100 miles a minute, "Guys, sincerely you're never going to believe this. I was under the porch digging you know?"  
Everyone listened intently while Vern went on about a jar of pennies he had buried underneath his house and how he was looking for them.  
"So Billy and Charlie came out of the house and they were talking about Ray Brower-"  
"Wait." I interrupted. "Who are Billy and Charlie and who's Ray Brower?" I was new in this town and I had no idea what they were talking about.  
"Billy is Vern's older brother and Charlie is his friend. They're part of the Cobras, that gang I told you about. And Ray Brower is a kid our age that went out looking for blueberries. He's been gone a few days and nobody's seen him. Everyone knows he's dead." Chris answered my questions.  
"Oh," I replied. "Sorry Vern, continue."  
"Ok so they were talking about how they saw him in Back Harlow Road. The train must have hit him."  
Everyone was speechless as the words hit.  
"Wow, he must have walked far looking for blueberries," Gordie said, astounded.  
"Yeah," Chris seemed to be thinking, "Hey guys, I bet you if we find him and bring him back, we could get our pictures in the paper. Or we could even be on TV!"  
Teddy jumped up, "Yeah. We'd be famous!" his eyes were glowing with anticipation and excitement.  
"Guys I don't know. Billy will know I found out and-" Vern was cut off.  
"Nobody will care! If we find Ray's body everybody will be so jazzed, they won't give a shit!" Teddy was enthusiastic.  
Vern shrugged, unsure.  
"Oh come on Vern!" teddy shouted, egging him on.  
"Let's do it. What do you say guys?" Chris asked with a smile.  
"Sure," Gordie said with a shrug.  
"Umm," I said feeling forgotten.  
Chris turned to me, "How bout you Cass?"  
"You want me to come?" I said shocked, pointing at myself.  
"Of course."  
"No, she can't. I don't want her fainting when she sees the dead kid." Teddy shook his head.  
"Excuse me, I didn't like you from the first moment but you sure aren't helping your case. I'm coming." I said it with certainty.  
Chris smiled, "Great."  
"Guys, I don't know." Vern was still reluctant.  
"If I'm going, then so are you." I raised my eyebrow at him.  
"Fine," he said, not wanting to look like a chicken.  
The boys started whooping and jumping around but I stayed sitting, wondering how the hell I'd get this past my parents.


	12. Coming Across the Cobras

I walked home quickly, begging and praying that my mom and dad weren't home yet. My brain was crammed with thoughts of how I would be able to go look for the body of the dead kid named Ray Brower. How would I either persuade or sneak around my parents?  
When I got to the huge house atop the hill in Castle Rock, my heart pounded and I looked to see if there was a car in the drive way. But there wasn't. I breathed a sigh of relief. It was about 3:30 now, so they could have been back at any time.  
I went up into my room and sat on my bed, thinking for a while.  
For a little bit, I thought telling my mom would be a good idea, and standing up to her. But in all honesty, I was afraid to do so.  
Instead, I decided to tell her that I wanted to head out for a while. But that was no good either. Maybe the best option was to not tell her at all, and just leave. But I didn't want her worrying either.  
So basically every option was worthless and would still get me in trouble.  
So I ended up doing this:  
Chris and the other boys had told me they were planning on beginning their search that evening. They told me to meet them at the tree house at 9 p.m. I went home, got dressed into more appropriate clothes, dirtier jeans and an old t-shirt with my old keds to tie it all together. I packed up a canteen with some water, got out some snacks from the kitchen cupboard, packed up the 50 bucks my parents had given me, pulled out my sleeping bag from my closet and stuffed it all under my bed, so when my parents came home they wouldn't be suspicious. I waited. My mom came back at 4:30 with a bag of groceries. I heard her car door slam and her keys hit the counter top when she entered the house. I gulped. Being grounded was horrible but it always made me nervous to talk to my mom when she was mad at me.  
She came up the stairs at about 5, so I casually sat on my bed and got out my book. She opened my door quietly and peeked in. She didn't look as angry as she had before.  
"Hi Cassandra," she said, still sternly.  
"Hi mom," I said, not looking up from my book. Then I lifted my head and said, "Mom? I'm sorry for not listening to you. I know it was wrong of me."  
She nodded, understanding. She seemed forgiving.  
"That's alright. I have to work again tomorrow. So I'll be gone early and I won't be back until late tomorrow night. You father isn't back because he's working all night and until tomorrow night as well. Is that ok with you?"  
It didn't matter of it was okay with me, but actually, it was. "Yeah, that's fine."  
"Good," she said, "I'm taking a nap. Good night honey."  
And she turned around and closed my door.  
It was only shortly after 5, and I didn't know how to wait. I still had four hours until I was due at the tree house, so I sat on my bed and drew. Amazingly, whenever I drew it was like the time just didn't exist and before I knew it, it was 8:45.  
I quickly opened my door and went into the hall. I peeked into my moms room to see if she was asleep. She was.  
I went back into my room, securely closed the door, realizing there was no way to lock it from the inside.  
"Damn it," I said to myself. But I would have to face the consequences later.  
I got out a pen and paper from my desk and started writing a note.

Dear Mom,

I'm going away for about two days, with my friends. Don't worry about me please and please accept that yes, it is with Chris Chambers. But he's a nice kid. He's just misunderstood in this town. I'm sorry that I have to disobey you.

-Cassandra

I hoped that that summed it up. I left the note on the dining room table as I snuck downstairs. Then I went back up to my room and shut the door.  
I quickly grabbed the things from under my bed and opened the window. The air was fresh and cool and it was dark outside. I loved this time of day because there was no chaos on the streets. Chris had warned me about the Cobras at this time of night though, so I was careful to keep out of the downtown area.  
I didn't encounter them on my way to the tree house, but once the boys and I walked through Castle Rock to get to the train tracks, a tall guy with cheese blonde hair and weird teeth came out of a shop. He had a snake tattoo on his upper arm and he was followed by a dark haired guy that strangely bared resemblance to Chris.  
"Hey girlies!" the dark haired one said, "Where you going at such a late hour?"  
Then he saw that I was part of the group, "Well who do we have here?" he smirked.  
"Leave her alone Eyeball!" Chris threatened.  
"Eyeball?" I asked Chris. What an unusual name.  
"Yeah, he's my brother, unfortunately."  
His brother. I wasn't able to believe it for a second, despite the resemblance.  
Eyeball grabbed Gordie's Yankee cap off his head and put it casually on his head.  
Gordie started jumping up and trying to get it back.  
"You're a real ass hole you know that?" Chris said.  
I gasped, able to tell that this wouldn't go down well at all.  
"Wow, my own brother went and insulted me," he turned back to the blonde guy, "Bad mistake."  
Before I could process what was happening, Eyeball grabbed Chris by the shirt and slammed him to the ground, holding a lit cigarette to his face.  
"Stop it! Don't hurt him!" I shouted from behind the two. I was half expecting Eyeball to turn to me instead and hit me, but he didn't. He let go of Chris and let him stand back up.  
Chris' face was slightly cut up and I gently stroked it, "Are you okay?"  
"Yeah, thanks I'm fine," he said with a weak smile.  
Eyeball and the blonde one were still standing in front of us.  
"Oh yeah," I had almost forgotten Gordie's Yankee cap.  
I walked over to Eyeball and snatched it off his head.  
I left him staring blankly and turned to other guys. Teddy and Vern had continued walking already. I stayed behind with Gordie and Chris and handed Gordie the cap.  
"Thanks," he said, grateful.  
I ruffled his hair.  
We walked to the end of the town, me between the two.  
There was a long way ahead of us.


	13. Heading Down the Tracks

We came to the small bridge of town connecting Castle Rock to the open land that stretched ahead of us.  
"Geez, 20 or 30 miles, right Gordie?" Chris asked staring into the distance.  
"Yep."  
"Gosh can't we hitchhike?" Vern was acting like a baby.  
"No, that's bullshit. It's no fun like that," I commented.  
Chris, Gordie, and I started walking across while Teddy and Vern stayed back, doing something called "two for flinching."  
I sometimes wondered if these two were like stuck in their toddler years.  
The two of them seemed to fall back for the first hour.  
But soon we were all clumped together and singing The Ballad of Paladin with the looming hills surrounding us and the tracks below us.  
"Hey guys, I'm hungry. Who brought the food?" Vern complained.  
The guys shook their heads and Teddy was about to start an angry rant, but I stopped him.  
"Just chill. I got some stuff. It's not a lot but I have money too."  
Gordie sighed with relief, "Ok we'll lets see how much money we have." he put his sleeping bag down and sat on the train tracks. We all followed.  
"Ok, 68 cents from Chris. 60 cents from Teddy. I have 1.02."  
Vern reluctantly gave his coins to Gordie.  
"7 cents Vern? Really?"  
Vern shrugged, "I haven't found my pennies yet."  
"Cass?" Chris looked at me hopefully.  
I handed him my 50 dollars and all the guys stared at it.  
"Where the hell did you get this? Did you rob a bank or something?" Chris was staring at the money as if it were gold.  
I laughed, "No. My parents gave that to me. And now if you're done staring at the money, can we get going?"  
They nodded.  
"We could by the whole store for that." Chris added.  
I heard a train behind me at the moment, so I got up, pulling the rest of the guys with me.  
I hopped off of the tracks with the guys close behind.  
We turned around to see Teddy still standing on the tracks, facing the quickly nearing train, as if in a trance by it.  
"Come on Teddy," Chris said, not taking this seriously.  
"No way. I'm dodging it."


	14. Dodger

"He can't be serious..." I said, astounded.  
"Just like the beach at Normandy," I heard Teddy say vaguely.  
Chris was yelling at him beside me saying that he was crazy and was trying to kill himself.  
Then we both ran towards him at the same time when the train was so close, I could feel it in my bones.  
I grabbed Teddy's left arm and Chris grabbed his right, the both of us trying to tackle him off of the tracks.  
It was pretty difficult. Teddy was stronger than he looked. But we managed to get him off just before the train came rattling past us.  
"You asshole!" Teddy was screaming to Chris. I thought he would most certainly turn to me and call me a bitch, but he didn't.  
"We were just trying to save your life man! You wanna kill yourself? Is that what you want god damn it?! Your trying to kill yourself!"  
I was out of breath from shock and saving Teddy. Chris looked the same.  
"I could of dodged it," Teddy said with his mouth turned down, looking at me.  
"Teddy, I saved you because I don't wanna see you dead, god damn it! I care about all you guys." I was a little frustrated now as I said this.  
He looked at me, for the first time with a soft, sad looking face, and I felt bad for him.  
But he went back to being his crazy self, "I coulda dodged it."  
I sighed while Chris walked over to him and said, "Look, you can dodge it on the way back man. Peace. Skin it."  
I knew Chris didn't actually mean letting Teddy dodge it on the way back, but anything to get them all going again.  
Teddy was reluctant to take Chris' hand, but he did.  
It was just another one of the gang's childish traditions that I had collected in my mind over those past few days.  
It showed that we were all still so young, but we were out on the search for a body.


	15. The Junkyard

Our next stop was a junk yard where I heard the story about Milo Pressman and his dog Chopper, the most feared and least seen dog in Castle Rock.  
Vern was very worried. His forehead was wrinkled and his mouth was pursed in a tiny circle.  
"Oh sic' balls," Chris joked when we reached the fence.  
"Why exactly are we staying here if you guys are so afraid of a dog and a junk man?" I asked.  
"We need water," Gordie didn't seem to find it amusing that I was making fun of them.  
I started climbing the fence while the guys were to awestruck and afraid to come after me.  
I at least had nothing to worry about IF this Chopper tale was true, since I didn't have a ball sack in between my legs.  
"Paratroops over the side!" I heard Teddy shout from behind me. It seemed as if his good mood had been completely restored.  
Gordie and Chris were just about over the fence and Teddy was climbing it. But Vern was still staring into the vast lot of broken down cars. It looked like a grave for automobiles of all size and shape.  
"Come on Vern. The junk yard isn't open till 3." Chris said impatiently. So Vern followed finally. We had gotten no sleep the night before and we were all exhausted. We had walked directly through the night, without much any resting.  
Chris was now beside me on the left.  
"Gosh, Teddy's insane," I said after he ran right past me, pretending this was a battle field and we were in the middle of war.  
"Yeah he won't live to be 20." Chris assured.  
There was a moments pause and then he said, "Hey race ya."  
"No way. I don't want to bruise your heart by beating you." I laughed.  
Chris oh'd, "Well we will see about that."  
"Go!" I shouted.  
"Oh you're dead!" I heard Chris' voice behind me. But he wasn't far off.  
I let him catch up to me, but just as he thought he was winning, I sped up to top speed and ran to the water pump,  
Chris looked at me as if I were some sort of alien, not believing it.  
"Oh, you just got beat by a girl!" Teddy cackled.  
"Hey, I've been running track for 3 years now. I'm the fastest there is." I looked at Chris and smiled. He returned the gesture and looped his arm around my shoulder.  
"Congratulations, you just beat the fastest person in Castle Rock." he said.  
"So I guess that makes me the fastest person in Castle Rock now." I said.  
"Yeah, I guess so." Chris pretended to look hurt by this.  
We walked over to the pump, where Gordie, Teddy, and Vern were now sitting, spitting water into a can.  
"Boys are so gross." I dramatically said, rolling my eyes in a girly way.  
Then I took a swig from my own canteen and aimed.  
I managed a perfect stream of water directly into the center of the can.  
The guys whooped at my abilities.  
"What can I say guys? I'm not even a guy, but I act more like one than any of you girlies."  
Chris laughed at that. His laugh was so soft and beautiful; I wanted to listen to it all day.  
"Hey guys, its 1:15, maybe we should get some food." Vern suggested.  
"you go." teddy said casually, spitting another stream of water into the can.  
"No way, let's all go." Vern said.  
"Nuh uh, I'm staying right here."  
I sighed, frustrated, "How bout I go? Since you little babies can't handle it."  
"You don't know the way though." Chris remarked.  
"I'll go with you." Gordie said. I was happy because he was sweet and I hadn't had much of a chance to bond with him.  
We got up, leaving the other guys by the pump.


	16. Buying Provisions

Gordie was quiet. I had always known he wasn't much of a speaker, but I had hoped that he might talk to me one on one.  
I asked him about his writing and that got him to say a few words. When he talked about it, I could kind of see his eyes light up.  
The walk to the store was about 2 miles, but it didn't take terribly long. We were in a rush anyway.  
When we got there I picked up some cokes while Gordie went for the bread and hamburger meat.  
The owner of the store was Mr. Quidaciolus, and all he seemed to care about at first was Gordie's dead brother Denny. Luckily he got steered away from the topic when he recognized me. From where, I don't know.  
"Hey, are you the new girl who just moved here?"  
"Yes sir," I answered politely.  
"Cassandra Kennith right? I heard about your baby sister. That's a real shame."  
I was shocked at what I had just heard.  
"Excuse me?" I was dazed.  
"Your baby sister, she died didn't she?" he asked.  
"I don't know what you're talking about," I lied and paid for the food quickly, dragging Gordie away with me. We both carried a bag of food in our hands.  
It was silent for a few moments, but Gordie got up the courage to ask.  
"What happened to your baby sister? Is that all true what he said?"  
I gulped, trying to swallow a tear, "Yeah, a year ago my mom had her second kid and she was overjoyed. I was excited too to have a little sister which I had always wanted. But when she was born there was a problem. She didn't cry, which babies are supposed to do when they enter the world. Something ended up being wrong with her lung and the doctors said she wouldn't survive. She lived about 2 months."  
Gordie couldn't find the right words.  
"You don't have to apologize," I said immediately, "I don't like getting sympathy."  
Gordie nodded, "What was her name?"  
"Monica."  
And that was that of the conversation. The last mile, we walked in utter silence. The woods were peaceful and a cool breeze blew through the trees.  
We reached the junkyard at about 2:30 but the other boys were nowhere to be found.  
"Oh hey Gordie?"  
"Yes?"  
"Please don't tell the guys about my sister. I don't know, I just don't want them to know right now."  
"Of course."  
For many years Gordie was the only one of the guys who knew about Monica. I didn't speak of it to anyone else until a cold winter night just a few years ago.

We maneuvered around the grave for cars to look for the guys. We didn't see them until we came to the front. They were climbing back across the fence and of course we were out of luck.  
Milo Pressman was here and he was behind us, "Hey! You kids! What are you doing here?!"  
My eyes went wide and I started to run with Gordie at my heels.  
"Chopper! Sic' em boy!"  
"Oh shit!" I thought. So this dog wasn't a myth.


	17. Shop Courses and a Train

Chris, Teddy, and Vern were all chanting as Gordie and I made it to the fence. All I heard was the barking behind me and the laughter of the boys as I landed on the ground.  
"That's Chopper?" Gordie asked, out of breath.  
Chris and Vern were bent over laughing while Teddy teased the dog, "Come on Choppy, sic' balls Choppy!"  
Milo was running towards us and that's when I got a good first look at Chopper.  
It was a golden retriever with not so threatening teeth, soft fur, and boy was he small.  
I laughed, "Ha, I knew it was a stupid myth."  
Milo had now reached the fence. He was fat, with a big round belly. His hair was disgustingly greasy and yellow and his teeth were even worse. He had a mustache as well.  
We were bothered by Pressman for another few minutes, while he started talking shit about Teddy's father. I hadn't known anything about his father but I did know that it was a topic that touched a nerve. And when someone talked shit about him, teddy wasn't happy.  
In fact, when Chris pulled him away from the junkyard, he cried. I never thought that I would see Teddy Duchamp cry, but he was wiping the tears from his face.  
We walked on, comforting him from the cruelness of Milo, telling him it didn't matter what that fat guy said about anyone.  
He was just dog shit.

We had a long way to go still. So much had already happened in such little time and we were already exhausted.

Teddy and Vern had moved up ahead of Chris, Gordie, and I so I took my chance to speak to them, without having Teddy be an asshole.

"You ready for school?" Chris asked me.

I shrugged, not really knowing how to answer, "I don't know to be honest. But I am glad I'll have you guys there with me." I smiled at them both.

Gordie seemed to be deep in thought, or it could have been sadness, but it could never read emotions well.

Suddenly he lifted his head and placed his hand on Chris' arm to stop him from walking.

"Am I weird?"

Chris didn't hesitate, "Definitely."

"No seriously man. Am I weird?"

Chris shrugged, "Yeah but everybody's weird."

I watched them, standing at Chris' right, not saying a word.

We continued walking until Chris broke the silence, "Next June, we'll all be split up."

Gordie stopped again, "Why would that happen?"

"It's not like grammar school that's why. Teddy, Vern, and I will be in the shop courses and you'll be in the college courses. You're gonna meet a lot of new guys, smart guys."

"I'm gonna meet a lot of pussies is what you mean," Gordie whispered.

Now Chris was angry, "No way man! Don't say that."

"I'd rather go into the shop courses than be with a lot of pussies."

"Then you're an asshole. If you hang with us you'll just be another wise guy with shit for brains."

There was another moment's silence in which the guys both didn't seem to notice I was still there.

Then Chris said, "You're just a kid Gordie."

"Oh gee thanks dad!" Gordie spun around to look angrily at Chris.

"I wish I was your dad. If I were you wouldn't be going around talking about quitting the college courses and doing the shop courses instead. Why would you even consider that man? You're too smart for that. It's as if God gave you something, all those stories you can write. And he said that this is what we got for you kid. Don't lose it. But kids lose everything unless they have someone there to look out for them. And if your parents just won't do that, then maybe I should."

There was silence afterwards. I was astounded by Chris and how he could talk to someone. It was like Chris was beyond his years with words and Gordie was just a little kindergartner standing next to him.

We continued walking and caught up to Teddy and Vern. There was a new atmosphere around us though. It was an uncomfortable atmosphere.

But we reached a bridge within a few minutes, and all past thoughts were lost.

Now this wasn't an ordinary bridge. It went across the river and if a train were to come while we were crossing it, we were dead meat, toast, hasta lavista to us.  
"No way am I crossing this," Vern said shaking his head, "can't we go around?"  
Teddy gave him a "are you crazy?" look.  
"Anyone know when the next train is due?" Gordie asked.  
"You guys are dragging. If we wait here longer, then we are basically asking for a train to come." I said, beginning to walk across.  
Chris followed me immediately, with Teddy and Gordie behind him. Vern stood, possibly waiting for us to turn back. But he gave up and walked behind Gordie.  
The sky was still, creepily still. This atmosphere reminded me of one of those movies, where you know something's going to happen.  
And something did.  
I could already hear the smoke behind me and the engine.  
"TRAIN!" Gordie bellowed.  
I started to run and suddenly I tripped. My foot was stuck in between the tracks.


	18. Train Dodge

I was surely dead now. I tried pushing myself up with my hands, but it didn't work.  
Chris was behind me and his eyes went wide once he saw me.  
Gordie, Teddy, and Vern had already caught up, but they had to save themselves. They passed Chris and I and ran safely to the other side of the bridge, now looking at us and hoping we would survive.  
The train was coming closer and closer and in a few seconds I would be no more. I was sweating and shocked that Chris would risk his life for me like this.  
"Chris, go. I don't want you to die." I looked up at him.  
He looked me in the eyes and said, "No way. In staying right here. I'm not leaving you, ever."  
It might have been those words, but I suddenly had the strength to yank my leg up. I slipped out quickly and started running for my life, literally. Chris was right behind me, hands on my back, pushing me forward.  
It was right behind us. The rattling grew and grew, so that my whole body was shaking like an earthquake.  
There was a split second choice that both Chris and I made. The train was so close behind us, we had to jump.  
We landed on the sand and rocks, my head pounding. Chris was directly beside me, some blood running down his forehead.  
We both slowly stood up, weakly.  
"So now we know when the next train was due." Chris said, holding his forehead.  
I managed a weak laugh. Teddy, Gordie and Vern were all looking down at us, mouths hanging open.  
"All time trail dodge!" Teddy grinned.  
"Insensitive," I mumbled.  
I started dusting off my jeans and tried to ignore the pounding migraine that I was experiencing.

But we both managed to walk anyway. I tried shaking off the utter shock of barely surviving a train dodge, but it was hard.

Either way, Chris and I pulled off making it look like nothing had happened, and we continued on through the woods.


	19. Camping Out

We found a place to camp out on the other side of the bridge. We built a fire and opened our sleeping bags.  
Gordie got out the hamburger meat while I got out the cokes.  
It was getting dark already, our second night on this search. I thought of home, knowing my mom and dad would be back by now, only to discover that I was gone.  
We listened to the radio. "Come, Softly To Me" was playing and we all lay in the setting sun.  
The guys started talking about things 12 years old would talk about, things like t.v shows and how some things didn't make sense. They were discussing what Goofy could possibly be.  
"Goofy's a dog, he's definitely a dog."  
"Nope, he can't be a dog. He wears a hat." I said.  
"And drives a car," Chris added.  
We talked a while until we were all ready to fall asleep.  
But we couldn't because there was a sudden howling.  
"Shit!" Vern said.  
"It's Brower's ghost." teddy's eyes were glowing.  
I turned to Chris, knowing he would have a better explanation, "What do you think it is?"  
"I don't know. Could be coyotes." he shrugged, but I detected fear.  
Then he whispered to me so only I could hear, "Come with me."  
He got up, pulling me along and walked me deeper into the woods.  
None of the guys noticed because they were too busy freaking out.  
"What is it?" I asked.  
"I gotta show you something."  
"Yes?" I was curious now.  
Slowly, Chris walked back to his sleeping bag, rolled it up, and slung it around his shoulder.  
Then he came back to me.  
I waited for an explanation or for him to say something.  
And then Chris' hand moved to his sleeping bag, and slowly he pulled something out of it.  
I jumped slightly when I saw it, "Jesus, are you trying to shoot me."  
He laughed, "No. I hawked it from my old man's bureau. It's a .45. I thought we might need it."  
"And why did you choose to show me instead of the guys."  
Again he laughed, "Because I can't trust them. If Teddy gets his hands on it, he'll shoot the whole woods down. And Vern, he would accidentally shoot someone. Gordie I trust though."  
"You think we should stand guard?" I asked him.  
"Yeah that's probably a good idea. If we don't then Vern'll probably piss his pants."  
We looked over at the boys with Vern jumping around anxiously and Teddy wanting to walk off to find "The Ghost."  
Chris stuffed the .45 in his sleeping bag and we both walked back to the campfire.  
"We're standing guard guys."  
"With what?" Vern asked confused.  
"With this," Chris pulled out the gun, making all the guys stare, awestruck.  
"I'll take the first watch." teddy said immediately.  
I flinched, hoping Teddy wouldn't actually shoot up the woods.  
Chris, Gordie, Vern and I lay back down, bracing ourselves, but instead of shooting, teddy only mumbled words as if he were a corporal.  
"Shut up teddy!" I shouted.  
And then he did.  
Vern was up next and I knew it was a mistake to let him stand guard. He pointed the gun at every cricket he heard and every owl hooting.  
I was glad when it was over, because I hadn't been able to sleep for worry.  
It was Chris' turn next. He took the gun from a shaking Vern, wiped his hands off on the back of his jeans and sat leaning against a tree, with his arms wrapped around his knees.  
He was distant, looking off into the vast sky.  
I knew I wouldn't be able to fall asleep anyway, so I went up next to him and stared at him until he we forced to look back at me.  
"Tell me what's wrong."  
He swallowed and I saw hurt in his green eyes.  
"Life is hard."  
I nodded. It was true but I wanted him to continue.  
"I won't be seeing you next year," he said, looking down at the ground.  
"What why?"  
"Because of the college courses. You're going into them aren't you?"  
I nodded.  
"Well I'm stuck in the shop courses with all the other retards."  
"Why can't you go into the college courses? Gordie told me you're smart."  
"That won't happen. The teachers won't let me because of how people think of my family in this town."  
My blood started to boil again. I was angry with the world for not understanding Chris, not giving him a chance.  
"Does that really mean you won't see me?" I asked.  
"Not often. The shop courses are completely separate from the college courses."  
I shook my head, upset.  
"Everyone knows me for the bad side of me, but not the good side. They know me as the thief and the kid with the alcoholic father who will end up just the same as the rest of his family. Well, that's why I'm trying to show them I'm different. I don't want to be like my family. And the only way to get rid of my reputation is to leave. I want to go someplace where nobody knows me."  
I saw a tear slip from his eye.  
I put my hand on his shoulder, trying my best to comfort him.  
"But I don't wanna leave you and the guys either," Chris added, "Especially you."  
My heart pounded. I wasn't sure what he meant by that but it didn't matter.  
"I saw your drawings yesterday." he said.  
My heart stopped.


	20. Lying Awake

**Thank you celestialstarynight for noticing my mistake in Chapter 18. You are indeed Tedward the Awesome. **

**And to anyone reading, if you have any ideas for how I could continue the story after the search for Ray Brower, I would love to hear it. You could leave me a review and that would be great! Thanks.**

I blushed bright red.  
I had completely forgotten that my pictures of him were in the corner of my room the whole time.  
I looked down, hoping to avoid him saying any more.  
"Hey, they were excellently drawn. You're really good."  
I didn't reply, I was too embarrassed.  
"Cass, don't worry," he tried to lift my head and look at me, "I've been meaning to tell you anyway..."  
Now I looked up, wondering what he would say.  
"Look, I've liked you from the first moment I saw you. It was just immediate, from when I almost bumped into you. I'm really happy that we became friends. This past few days I've been trying to figure out how to tell you..."  
It was one of the sweetest things I had ever heard.  
I was speechless and for some moment I thought I was probably dreaming.  
But as if a pinch to prove it wasn't a dream, Chris leaned forward and met my lips with his.  
A warm feeling spread through me and I still couldn't find words.  
"How would your parents react?" Chris asked with a smile.  
I managed a laugh, "Not well at all. I'd be grounded for the rest of my life."  
"Can you come with me?" he asked.  
"Where?"  
"When I leave town, come with me." he said.  
I rested my head against his shoulder, "Yeah, good plan."  
So we say against the tree for a few more hours until we woke up Gordie so he'd take the last watch.  
I didn't even try to sleep the rest of the night through. It was already 4 a.m and too many thoughts ran through my mind.  
So I lay wide awake and out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Chris was too.


	21. The Leech Swamp

The next morning a freight woke us up from a deep sleep and we continued walking.  
We walked for miles until there it was, stretched out ahead of us, the Royal River. There was a decision to be made first of all. Keep on the tracks, which would take us much longer, or cut across the field and through the woods.  
Chris announced, "We cut across this field we'll be there in an hour."  
"Let's go across the field." I said.  
"I say we stick to the tracks." Vern said babyishly.  
"Gordie? Teddy?" Chris asked.  
"Yeah, across the field." Gordie said, looking straight ahead. Teddy nodded.  
"Let's go." Chris started down the slightly sloped field. It was beautiful outside, reflecting my attitude and I ran right behind him.  
Teddy started blowing air through his hand and making trumpet noises. Vern was still at the top of the hill, saying things like "You don't know what's in those woods!"  
I shouted back, "And you do know what's on those tracks!"  
He must have realized he didn't want to walk along the train tracks by himself, so he yelled, "Hey guys, wait up for me!"

It had cooled down drastically once we go into the woods. It looked like it could start raining at any point. The trees were densely placed together and a slight wind blew through them.  
We walked and walked until we came across a huge swamp, murky with mud.  
"Great, how do we get across this?" Vern complained.  
"We use you as a raft." Teddy suggested.  
"Haha very funny."  
Chris tugged at a tree branch until it broke off and tested the water's depth.  
"Hey, it's not that deep. We can walk across."  
The boys started walking but I was smart enough to know.  
I watched with amusement when they all plunged downwards at least 4 feet.  
I laughed. Teddy's hair was glued to his forehead, making his huge black glasses stand out.  
"Told you we shoulda stuck to the tracks," Vern moped.  
"Your the world's biggest pussy." Teddy replied.  
All four guys soon started shoving each other and dunking each other under the water.  
I was still standing on the other bank, not being noticed by the typical 12 year olds.  
Gordie was already floating over to the other bank.  
"Where do you think you're going LaChance?" Chris said, raising an eyebrow.  
"Let's get moving," Gordie said, not wanting to joke around.  
The boys swam over to him and piled on him, so I now stepped into the water and swam over quickly.  
"Hey Vern, you have something on your neck!" Gordie craned his own neck to see.  
"Yeah right, not falling for that." Vern laughed.  
"No Vern, there is something on your neck." I was towering above the guys.  
"It's a leech." Chris announced,  
"Leeches!" Teddy shouted.  
I watched as all four of them stripped down their clothes to their underwear and pranced around like little ballerinas.  
They tried prying each other clean of the filthy creatures until they succeeded in ridding of them.  
They stood around panting until I saw Gordie's face turn pale.  
We all stared in worry while he pulled out the biggest leech from his fruit of the looms in all of history.  
The leech wobbled quickly before it fell to the ground.  
Gordie's fingers were caked with blood. He stared at it until he fell to the side and passed out.  
"Gordie!" I shouted and I ran over to him along with the other guys.


	22. Finding Ray Brower

I slapped Gordie across the face quickly so he would wake up. The other guys stared at me, shocked.  
"Ow," Gordie rubbed his cheek as it turned red.  
But he was alright otherwise.  
I took his hand and helped him stand up.  
The guys were all wet and basically naked. I sat Gordie down by a tree and walked over to Chris.  
"Maybe we should take him back," he suggested.  
"Oh great Chambers now you're turning pussy too!" Teddy exclaimed, letting go of the sleeping bag he was helping Chris fold.  
"What's your problem Duchamp? He had a leech hanging from his balls! He fainted."  
"What are you, his mother?"  
"Eat shit!"  
"You eat shit!"  
For the first time, I had to break up a possible fight.  
"Hey! Stop. Gordie doesn't want to go back okay? We've come all this way and I know he doesn't want to go back. He's fine."  
Later, Gordie had told me that he was grateful that I understood him. He really had wanted to continue on.  
So we walked on. We could feel the closeness of Ray Brower already. We weren't far away.  
It had lightly begun to rain but it was refreshing against our sweaty bodies.  
We came to a small road.  
"Teddy is this the back Harlow road?" Gordie asked.  
"Yeah," he answered.  
"Teddy, you and Vern take the left side of the tracks, we'll take the right."  
"Alright."  
I walked next to Chris, resisting the urge to hold his hand in front of the other guys.  
I wondered if he thought we should tell them, but we were facing something more important at the moment.  
And suddenly I heard Vern's cry, "Oh my god, there he is! I see him look! I see him, I see him."  
He was pointing towards the lake, at a spot of bushes.  
And sure enough, I could see a pair of legs peaking through.  
I couldn't breathe.  
Chris pushed through the rest of us to go see the body.  
I followed closely behind, fascinated but a little creeped out as well.  
The kid's face was completely scratched up. It was cracked and had dry blood on it. His jeans were ripped up and he had lost his keds.  
The bugs and beetles were already working on devouring his remains.  
Chris, Gordie, Teddy, Vern and I could only look at the poor kid with the cool rainy breeze swirling around us.  
"Well look who we have here!"  
Chris and I swirled around.  
"Ace," Chris spoke so only I could hear.


	23. Heading Home

Chris and I spun around at the same time.  
Chris stood and front of me and the guys like a shield, protecting us.  
"Weren't planning on taking the body from us was you boys?" Ace asked.  
"Go away. We found him." I spit out.  
"No, Billy and I found him first," a blonde boy along with the other Cobra gang members had just emerged from behind some trees.  
Teddy started mocking him, "Yeah, Vern told us all about how you found him, "Oh Billy, I wished we never boosted that car. Oh Billy, I think I just turned my fruit-of-the-looms into a fudge factory." he mocked in a ridiculously high pitched voice. I tried hiding my laugh, but it came out as more of a snort.  
Ace had to stop the blonde skinny one from attacking Teddy.  
"Alright Chambers, this is your last chance to join us. What do you say?"  
Chris shook his head, "No way, never."  
Ace nodded, "Ok, ok. Kid, you're dead."  
Ace started advancing on Chris with a knife. I went with my instincts and ran right between the two.  
"You're not killing him." I said.  
"Oh really? Then I'll kill you instead."  
His knife was just inches from my throat and I could feel the end.  
But by some miracle, a gun was shot behind me.  
I turned around just to see Chris holding his .45, pointed skywards.  
Ace stepped back now.  
"Chambers, give me the gun."  
Chris continued holding the gun and looked straight at Ace, "No one hurts or kills my girlfriend."  
There was utter silence. I didn't expect Chris to go and tell the world about that.  
I started blushing again.  
Teddy emerged from behind Chris and I and looked stunned. In fact, everyone looked stunned.  
Ace laughed, "Girlfriend huh?"  
There was silence among the Cobras. Billy, The skinny blonde boy, and all except Ace had already started retreating back up to the tracks.  
Ace still looked menacing and he shook his knife at us as he retreated too, "We're not gonna forget this if that's what you're thinking. This is big time baby."  
And he walked up to the tracks slowly, leaving us 12 year olds alone with the body of a dead kid.  
We formed a circle once again around Ray Brower.  
"We gonna take him?" Vern asked.  
"No," Gordie simply shook his head.  
"But we came all this way." I said shocked.  
"We were supposed to be heroes." teddy added.  
"But not this way." Gordie said.  
Chris didn't say anything, just stood off to the side in silence.  
What happened next was unexpected as Gordie sat down on a fallen branch next to Ray's body.  
He looked pale and he was just staring into empty nothingness.  
"Why did he have to die?"  
He mumbled these words over and over and I began wondering if he was talking about his brother Denny, or Ray.  
Chris looked at Gordie. "Gordie?" his face was full of worry for his best friend.  
He walked up to him, sat on the log, and slung his arm around his shoulder.  
"Why did he have to die Chris? Why do people have to die? Why did Denny have to die?"  
"I don't know," Chris shook his head.  
Gordie began crying and saying it should have been him and that his father hated him.  
"He doesn't hate you. He just doesn't know you."  
I loved listening to Chris comfort someone. It wasn't really like listening to a 12 year old. He was so wise and mature already.  
Gordie began bawling and resting his head against Chris' shoulder.  
Chris comforted him by telling him what a great writer he was and would become.  
Soon enough, Gordie wiped the tears away and seemed okay enough. It was like Chris could work magic and always make someone feel better, even though he himself had been through so much.

We covered Ray's body with one of our sleeping bags and headed home. We barely spoke at all, except occasionally Teddy would start teasing me and Chris for dating now.  
But otherwise it was a silent journey back. The trip had changed us all and we would never be the same again.

Now I just wondered in how much shit I would be when I got back home.


	24. I'm Never Gonna Get Out of This Town

We got back early on Sunday morning, the day before Labor Day. The town seemed even smaller than it had when I first arrived there. It was a quiet day. No one was around and the sun shone weakly down on us.  
As we walked into town, Chris stopped and looked around casually.  
"Well see ya at school," Vern threw out.  
"Yeah," Chris nodded.  
"Junior High," Teddy said.  
I nodded.  
Vern started walking to down the road that bent right.  
He stopped to pick something up, "Penny."  
I laughed silently and watched him walk off into the rising sun.  
"Well I better get going before my mom puts me on the ten most wanted list." teddy started walking up a road to our left and singing the Ballad of Paladin.  
I was left with Chris and Gordie.  
We walked silently through the vacant town, not speaking.  
We went up to the tree house and overlooked the town.  
"I've never gonna get out am I?" Chris asked us.  
"You can do anything you want man," Gordie looked him in the eyes.  
"Sure," he replied sarcastically.  
Then he looked at me with his beautiful green/blue eyes. I shook my head, wanting him to believe in himself.  
"Give me some skin," he directed at Gordie.  
"Well, see ya." Gordie said after the hand shake.  
"Not if I see you first."  
I felt like it was the end of a sad movie, how Chris said it and how he walked off slowly afterwards waving to the both of us.  
I decided to stay with Gordie for a while and sit under the tree house.  
I was definitely not in a rush to get home. I wished I could stay away from the house for as long as possible.  
I was so worried what my parents would say, or more like yell, when I got back.  
So I stayed for another hour. It was now about 9 a.m. Gordie got out a cigarette and lit it.  
"You don't look like a smoker," I pointed out.  
He smiled at that, "Neither do you."  
"Yeah, but that's cuz I DON'T smoke." I replied.  
"Have you tried?" he said, holding out a pack.  
"Yeah, it's disgusting."  
He shrugged, "Whatever you say."  
There was a moments silence until he asked, "When did you become Chris' girlfriend?"  
"Two nights ago. When we were taking turns standing guard."  
He nodded, and I had the annoying feeling that he wasn't approving of it.  
"Ok, well I better get home and face my angry parents." I got up.  
"Ok, I'll see you in school."  
"Indeed, you will. Bye Gordo."  
I ruffled his hair, making him smile and walked off.


	25. Getting Home

I got home, my heart pumping at an abnormal rate. I was fearing the car in the drive way and the screaming parents.  
But to my utter surprise, only one of those things happened.  
The Mercedes was parked and I started shaking. Yes, that was how nervous I was.  
I didn't want to move any closer. I could just picture my mother storming out of the house and slapping me across the face so hard that I would topple.  
I debated going through the back and climbing up to my room. But I didn't exactly want to avoid my parents too long either.  
So I picked up my ass with great courage and went up to the huge front door. I breathed deeply, trying to release all the nerves, and I slowly took the brass knocker into hand.  
Twice I knocked and because of how nervous I was feeling, the vibrations seemed a thousand times bigger than they actually were.  
No one answered.  
I knocked again and braced myself.  
Sure enough, I could hear footsteps nearing the door.  
My mom opened it. She was wearing a night gown and looked exhausted, until she saw it was me.  
In a way I hoped she would immediately start yelling or at least say something, but she didn't. This meant I had to give some sort of explanation.  
"Mom, did you see the note?"  
She nodded, not in the mood for talking.  
"Cassandra, I have been worried sick. I don't care with who it is, but I never want you to just run off like that. I don't think you understand how terrifying that is for a mother."  
She remained surprisingly calm the whole time.  
I felt like crying, "I know. I'm sorry, but I knew that if I told you, you would never let me."  
She didn't say anything back, but instead she embraced me.  
I was happy that she seemed to have been more worried than angry. And possibly I was forgiven.  
"Why didn't you give Chris a chance? You don't even know him." I asked.  
She sighed and I could tell she thought it would be hard to explain, confusing,  
"you're right. I shouldn't have judged him before I knew him. I'm sorry for that. I just didn't want you to get hurt."  
I guess I understood. Parents are always worried like that about their children. Now that I myself am I mother, I understood where my mom was coming from.  
"Where were you exactly?" my mom asked.  
I choked up, not sure if telling her this would really make her mad.  
"Um, well..." I started.


	26. Realization

**Hello everyone! I have finally had a chance to update. I haven't been able to think of how to continue lately. **

**But I would really like to thank two people. First of all, Moon1210, thank you so much for leaving me that super sweet and helpful review. I was so happy when I read it. It was one of the nicest reviews I've ever gotten. I want to dedicate this chapter to you because you helped me continue to update. Your suggestion was much appreciated. **

**Secondly, I want to give credit to celestialstarynight for one of the parts of this chapter. One of your reviews had a great paragraph in it that I used in this chapter, as I have told you. Thanks. **

I didn't know how to continue speaking. I felt like my heart was lodged in my throat and I couldn't breathe.

My mom was standing in the doorway, arms folded, waiting for me to say something.

I ran through it in my mind, "Oh nothing mom. The boys and I just went out on the search for a dead body through the woods. And after almost getting hit by two trains, running from a fluffy puppy in a junkyard, and watching the guys get attacked by leeches, we found it. But then we were in deep crap because the Cobras showed up and pulled on a knife on me. It was all okay though because Chris, who is now my boyfriend, shot a gun and saved me. So you know, it wasn't a very interesting trip."

I thought all this in my mind but knew I wouldn't be able to say it, so I just croaked out, "Well, I just was out camping with the guys."

It sounded so stupid, I almost smacked myself.

My mom seemed to find it weird as well, "OK. Cassandra, I just don't want you walking out like that."

I nodded. She seemed to be taking everything a lot better than I had imagined she would, so that was a plus. But one thing was still bothering me, "Mom?"

"Yes?" she had just turned and was about to walk into the house.

"What about Chris? Can I still see him?"

I felt choked up, afraid that it had been a mistake to ask this question.

My mom sighed, "Yes. You said he's a nice kid and I trust you."

I could barely contain the excitement at those words. I knew I still would have seen him even if my mom hadn't given permission, but this way I didn't need to carry the guilt around.

I smiled, "Thanks mom."

We both walked into the house. I was sweaty and disgusting after two days of taking no shower and wandering through the woods. I had barely made it into the house, when I launched myself into the bathroom and leapt into the cold water. I could feel the grime slipping off of my skin.

I thought back to the crazy trip I had had. I almost wanted to tell my mom the details but I knew that if I were to do that, I would be guaranteeing a life of being grounded and either sitting in my room all day or going to school. The best choice was to keep quiet.

I stayed like this for the last day of my summer vacation. It was Labor Day, and what I did was stay home. I didn't go to the tree house or wander around town. I didn't go on any other crazy adventures with friends or run from German Shepherds. I was in my room the whole time, drawing again. I drew more of Chris. It seemed that I had developed some sort of need to draw him. So I just continued sitting on my bedroom floor, surrounded by sketch pads and pencils.

Before I knew it, it was 9 P.M and I only had about ten hours until school started. Summer had sped by and I had barely had any time to realize. I had been so busy and so many thoughts had crammed my mind that I didn't even have time to be nervous.

But now I was. I dropped my pencil in the middle of a sketch and clutched my stomach. I felt the churning on the inside, like cookie dough being mixed. I began to feel the lightness of butterflies fluttering in my stomach as well.

And then came the warm tingling rushing up my throat.

The next thing I knew was that the whole wood floor was sprayed with vomit. It had happened so quickly. Even some of the wall was covered. I slumped and examined the science experiment I had just created.

It was a complete mess. I gathered my sketch pads and put them all in a pile. It was too late for me to go downstairs and get a mop and a bucket and clean everything up, so I just lay on my bed and fell asleep, failing to realize that I would have to wake up early the next day, and the mess would still be there.


	27. School

It was quite a shock when I was awoken at 6 A.M. My mom was looking down at me and she didn't seem too happy.

That was when I remembered the mess from the night before.

I sat up and looked down at the floor. But instead of seeing dried up vomit like I had expected, I saw spotless shiny wood.

I looked back up at my mom with a questioning look.

"You can imagine the surprise on my face when I walked in here last night to check on you and I saw the whole room covered with your inner fluids," my mom said.

I almost had to laugh. She didn't seem upset, more like she was joking around. She sat next to me on my bed, "It really smelled disgusting in here."

At that, I did laugh.

"Well, get up. Time for school." She patted me on the back as she rose back up. I fell back onto the bed. Those were the six words I dreaded. I always had.

My mom left the room as I reluctantly got up to change. The sun was shining through my windows and I could hear the birds chirping. I wanted to shout at them, "How can you be so joyful right now?!" I was grumpy. The environment around me wasn't exactly fitting my mood.

"Cass! Hurry up!" My mom was now shouting from downstairs.

"I know!" I yelled back slightly angrily.

I quickly pulled on some socks and stampeded down the hall, slamming my bedroom door shut behind me. Most other children would probably have been only nervous, not grumpy when going to school. No one else in Castle Rock was in my position. I was almost sure of that. I thought that no one understood what it was like to move on such sudden notice to such a random place and then have to go to school there with completely new people.

When I was in the kitchen I grabbed a quick slice of toast with some jam and mustered up a bye to my mom who was waiting for me at the front door, ready to wish me a good day or something. "Highly doubtful," I told myself.

"Bye honey. Try to make some friends."

I wanted to tell her that I had already made friends but I was too tired to do so. I gave her a hug instead and burst through the door into the fresh late summer air.

"Don't forget to check in with the office to get your schedule!" My mom shouted when I was already half way down the block. But I still heard it before I disappeared beyond the View and into the real town of Castle Rock.

I didn't have a clue what was awaiting me.


	28. The Office

It was actually calming and peaceful being able to walk alone through the streets of the town. It was so quiet and vacant that it almost felt unusual. I had been expecting a bunch of students to flood out of their homes and rush to the school. But maybe it was like this just because Castle Rock was a small town.

The walk was only a few minutes and it lead me to the very corner of town. The building was hidden almost. A gravel street travelled up to it revealing a tiny school, just the perfect size for Castle Rock.

There were a few students scattered around here and there. Some looked to be older and used to the system. Others appeared to be young and not quite sure where to be. Maybe I had been wrong in the fact that no one understood my position.

I was nervous again, hoping that I would run into Chris at the very moment so he could save me. I didn't want to go into the office by myself and have to talk to the principal or the assistant principal. I just wanted to be back at home or with the guys.

"Cass," I heard a voice behind me. I spun around.

It was Teddy.

"Hey Teddy," I was relieved that I had someone there with me, even if it was someone as crazy as he was.

"So, are you scared?"

"Are you kidding?" I laughed nervously, "I threw up yesterday." I said it casually.

Teddy laughed, which came as no surprise to me at all.

"Don't worry. You'll be fine. We're a tiny school and you have us." He comforted me.

I was quite surprised at how Teddy could actually be quite serious and sweet when he wanted to be.

"Thanks," I smiled at him.

And just at that moment, the bell rang. My heart started pounding again and I wanted to stop it from leaping out of my chest.

Teddy began walking and I followed him. The few students ahead of us seemed much calmer than I felt but I couldn't tell completely.

I walked into the building and saw the sign for the main office.

I pointed at it so Teddy would know where I was going. I was too nervous to talk.

He nodded and began walking off through the halls that were slowly beginning to fill up with people.

Now all I had was the option to go in to the office to get my schedule. It was standing right there in front of me, staring at me, mocking me.

I looked at it for a minute, knowing it was too late to turn back and go home back into bed.

Then I sighed and stepped through the open door.

A desk stood in front of me and a woman with light blonde hair sat at it. She wore glasses and lifted her head when she saw me enter.

Luckily she seemed pretty nice and she smiled at me immediately, "Hello. How can I help you?"


	29. The Halls

"Hi," I said shyly. "I'm Cassandra Kenneth. I just moved here."

She nodded and continued to smile, "So you need your schedule?"

"Yes."

The woman at the desk started sorting through a bunch of papers. The desk had mountains of flyers and such stacked on it. I got the feeling that she wasn't very organized and that looking for my schedule would take a while.

"Got it," she yelped excitedly as she held up a small sheet triumphantly, "OK honey. Here are the classes you'll have. You will have recess after your second class."

I nodded and walked towards the desk to retrieve it from her.

"Thanks," I said and then I turned towards the door, not quite sure if I was ready to face what was about to come.

Students were still in the hallway. I heard the shuffling of their feet and their voices shouting to each other.

Somewhere out there were Chris and the other guys and I wanted to find them.

I navigated through the halls. It was just as small a school on the inside as it was on the outside. There were four hallways in total and about ten classrooms that were actually in use. The student population was around 350, which surprised me because it was only a junior high school. I wondered how so many students could fit into such a small building.

There were still people in the halls with me but none of them seemed to notice that I was new. They drew their attention to something more important as we all turned left into the second hallway of the school.

There was someone I would recognize anywhere, beating up someone else I already knew in my dreams.

Ace was holding Chris around the neck and trying to knock him to the ground. The first thing I wondered was how no teachers could be noticing this. But I got myself together and walked up to Ace without hesitation.

"Leave him alone," I said sternly and without fault in my voice.

Ace stopped to look at me, "Excuse me?" He wasn't very happy about me standing up to him, especially since I had already done it once, and probably embarrassed him.

"You heard me. Go pick on someone your own age." It was a slightly childish saying, but I didn't care, because Ace seemed to listen.

He backed off and gave Chris and me one last evil glare. I was proud of myself for getting him to stop so quickly.

Chris didn't seem to be hurt but he always looked so sad and innocent when he was being beat up.

"Hey Cass," he said happily, "Nice way to see me on your first day huh?"


	30. The Classroom

I laughed, "Yeah."

"What classes do you have," Chris asked while everyone in the hall dispersed. Then his face dropped and he seemed to remember, "Oh right, the college courses."

I nodded, avoiding eye contact as we both began to walk, "I have English first."

Chris looked up at me without saying a word.

"I wish we had classes together," I told him.

"Me too," he said.

"Oh come on don't mope. I'll see you at lunch okay?"

He smiled, "Yeah, and don't go finding some other guy today okay?"

I laughed, "What guy would compare to you?"

Then I walked towards my class room alone, realizing that I might have Gordie in one of my classes.

The college courses were all located in the same hallway at the end of the school. I saw a few kids carrying their books and I knew that class was about to start. The hall seemed lonely, as if all us 'smart' kids were completely separate from the other students.

There were three classrooms. The second one I came across was the one I needed to be in and when I looked through the door, I saw the teacher already speaking to the students.

I was late, just what I had wanted to avoid.

I reluctantly walked inside feeling the stares and the silence of the room.

"Hello," the teacher said. She was a middle-aged dark haired woman wearing a brown skirt. She looked stern but friendly enough.

"H-hi," I stuttered, "I'm Cassandra. I'm new here."

The teacher cracked a smile, "Welcome Cassandra. I'm Ms. Johnson. Would you like to tell the class something about yourself first of all?"

I hated it when teachers asked things like that. I hated to speak in front of people, "Umm I'm from Chicago. I've lived there my whole life."

The class was silent, but that was all I could think of saying at the moment.

"Do you like it here in Castle Rock so far?" Ms. Johnson asked me.

I wasn't sure how to respond to her question. I couldn't piece everything together in my mind, "Yeah, it's nice."

I didn't want to have to talk anymore. I could already hear the other students whispering to each other and it made me uncomfortable.

"Do you live up on the View?" A blonde haired boy shouted.

I nodded without realizing that might have been a mistake.

The class started snickering. I had been right in thinking they viewed the View as a place for snobs and stuck up rich people. I didn't belong here.

I flushed red and Ms. Johnson immediately shushed the class. She faced me and told me to find an empty seat.

I headed through the small aisles while the students continued giggling silently as I passed.

Ms. Johnson continued talking once I sat down and started saying things about what materials we would need for class and the books we would be reading.

She was interrupted though as a knock came on the classroom door.

"Come in," she said loudly while writing on the chalkboard.

The class had been talking but when the door was opened, everyone was silent.

It was Chris.


	31. Chambers in the College Courses

The whole class remained silent and completely still.

What was Chris doing here?

Even Ms. Johnson seemed surprised, "May I help you?"

"The principal sent me. I'm supposed to be in this class."

I almost felt the mornings' toast rise up my throat.

The class started snickering again and I knew why.

"Sure. A Chambers is supposed to be in the college courses?" One guy said loud enough for everyone to hear.

I looked at Chris but he ignored the comment completely.

Even Ms. Johnson, who I thought had been nice, was rude about it, "Are you sure about that? I'm going to go check with Mr. Parrott."

And she left quickly.

The atmosphere of the room was awkward. Chris was standing in the front of the class while everyone stared at him. He was a little bruised from the incidence with Ace in the morning, but otherwise he looked fine.

I gestured for him to sit next to me at the empty desk so we could talk.

"What are you doing here?" I was being brutally honest that I was just as surprised as everyone else in the class.

"They gave me a new schedule. The woman at the front desk is really nice and said I deserved to be in the college courses. She talked to the principal about it and I don't know, maybe he caved."

I couldn't say anything but, "Wow."

"I know."

"This is amazing. You so deserve it." I smiled. He smiled back.

Just then Ms. Johnson walked back in carrying a look of pure shock and disbelief on her face, "Well Mr. Chambers, welcome."

The rest of the class didn't want to believe it.

"Are you serious?" One girl whispered. I could already tell she would be a pain. She had her hair completely covered in hairspray, even more so than the other girls. She was wearing black glasses and a pink skirt with a turquoise sweater.

I wanted to smack her.

But before I could talk myself out of it, Ms. Johnson started lecturing the class again from where she had left off, as if nothing had happened.


	32. Ace Finds Out

Class was over soon. I hadn't been able to pay much attention because I was too busy thinking of how Chris had landed here.

The both of us walked out together. Chris was still getting stares as we left the room but we both ignored them as best we could.

I smiled at him, "I'm proud of you."

He turned to me quickly and looked shocked, but happy. He grabbed my hand as we walked towards my next class. I now had American History.

"What class do you have?" I asked him as we stood in front of my next class.

"I think it's Geometry."

I nodded, "Well see you at lunch."

"Not if I see you first," he said and he was about to turn around, when Ace showed up.

"Well look what we have here. Are Chambers and Cassandra a couple now?"

I couldn't believe it. Merrill tended to show up at the worst possible times.

"Shut up Ace," Chris said. I felt like "shut up" was said a lot when the Cobras were involved.

"So it's true?" He wore a nasty grin.

"Yes. It is," I looked Ace straight in the eye, "And so what if it is?"

He obviously didn't know how to respond so he continued to sneer.

"I love Chris and if you are too stupid to notice how great he is, then that's your loss." I stood at Chris' side the whole time, gripping his hand.

Ace was shocked and I knew he couldn't believe I continued to stand up for both Chris and I like this. So he walked away.

"I don't think he's going to bother you anymore." Chris smiled. There was a moment of silence. Only he and I were in the hallway. "Thanks Cass for standing up for me."

"No need to thank me." I let go of his hand, smiled and turned towards my classroom. I whispered an "I love you" to him before disappearing into the class.

I saw him whisper, "I love you too."

….

The room was full with kids and my teacher was already lecturing. I was late again.

I scanned the room before taking a seat.

I saw someone waving to me and grinning excitedly.

It was Gordie.


	33. Chris' Middle Name

**This chapter is dedicated to anyone who has read my story at all so far. Thanks to all of you guys. **

**And another very important message:**

**Happy Birthday to River Phoenix! He would be 42 today. So I'm posting this chapter because of him. **

I was quite shocked at seeing Gordie. I had only not talked to him for a few days and already he seemed much older. He looked excited to be in the college courses, but more excited to see me.

I walked over to him awkwardly. There was an empty seat next to him so I sat myself down. The room was completely silent and I felt each person's stares, like they were burning holes through my face.

"Welcome, Ms. Kenneth right?" The teacher asked.

I nodded a bit shyly. The teacher was once again a woman and she seemed fairly nice. Unlike Ms. Johnson, she seemed less likely to be someone to dress up or look fancy. Her hair wasn't put back perfectly from being hair-sprayed like crazy and she wore little or no makeup.

"Well it's nice to meet you. Welcome to American History."

"Thank you," I replied politely.

Her name was on the chalkboard straight ahead of me. Mrs. Chambers.

I stared at it a few moments, not sure whether to believe my eyes. Either it was a total coincidence or it wasn't at all.

Mrs. Chambers continued lecturing to the class as I turned to Gordie. He was grinning from ear to ear.

I laughed, "Hey." I whispered.

"Hey Cass," he whispered back.

"Did you know Chris is in the college courses now?" I asked.

His eyes went wide, "What?! He is? How?"

He was too shocked to say more than two words per sentence.

I nodded, "The woman at the front desk in the office recommended him."

Gordie looked at me blankly, but I knew he was overjoyed.

…

When class was over I found Chris quickly in the hallway.

He beamed at me.

"How was Geometry?" I asked him.

He laughed, "Everyone stared at me in shock, but I'm used to it."

I nodded and grabbed his hand, not caring if anyone noticed.

We walked in silence into the courtyard behind school to eat lunch. But once we go there, Chris turned to me, "Hey, I never got to properly thank you for standing up for me."

I shook my head, "You did thank me, and you didn't even need to."

But Chris ignored my statement and leant in to kiss me. We were standing in the open courtyard. Students were bustling around us, but no one seemed to notice.

We both pulled back.

Chris was still holding my hand as he said, "Hey, this is weird. I don't know your last name."

I laughed, "Really?"

He nodded.

"Well, it's Kenneth."

Chris let go of my hand, "No way."

"What?" I asked confused.

"That's my middle name."


	34. Cass and Chris

**Hi everyone. So I finally got a chance to post again. I already started school so I haven't had much time to write at all.**

**But here's a new chapter. **

**By the way, thanks so much to lilaclacey for reviewing. Also thanks to celestialstarynight and IAmChrisChambers823 who review every single chapter. **

I almost choked on my own throat.

"You can't be serious?" I said.

He nodded, "Dead serious. How can it be that I'm dating you yet I didn't know your last name?"

I laughed.

Just then Teddy came soaring from behind us, almost knocking Chris and me over.

He looked overjoyed to have lunch.

"Hey guys." Then there was a pause. He seemed to be looking down towards our hands.

Then I realized. He had never found out about us being together.

Teddy looked back up with a look of disbelief, "You two are going out now?"

He didn't seem quite positive. But he started cackling almost immediately after, "Chris Chambers has a girlfriend! He actually has a girlfriend. The day came." He was now jumping up excitedly and spinning in circles.

"Duchamp, at least I'm actually good looking. You on the other hand…" Chris stopped his sentence for dramatic effect but Teddy was already about to pounce.

"Chambers, you just signed your own death warrant."

By now the whole school was watching Teddy as he tried tackling Chris to the ground, but Chris was strong.

I stood beside them trying to hear what the crowd was saying. One girl said, "Is he serious? Chris is dating that new girl?"

The others' words were around the same lines, but they didn't sound too pleased. It looked like I wasn't going to be very popular around here. I didn't care much but I didn't want to be hated either.

Finally Teddy gained a small ounce of maturity and stopped pummeling Chris. It was now silent and the atmosphere was completely still.

Students circled around us and whispered to each other. Chris was at my left and Teddy stood in front of us.

Just behind him, Vern came prancing from the building with a brown lunch bag in hand, humming to "The Ballad of Paladin".

When he saw everyone just standing, he stopped and stared in curiosity.

His eyes widened when he noticed I was holding Chris' hand.

It seemed he got the message pretty quickly, which was shocking coming from him.

Vern stayed silent.

I wanted these people just to go away and not act like we were aliens who had just landed on Earth.

"Cassandra right?" I heard a girl whisper behind me. She wasn't directing the question at me though.

"Yeah." The girl next to her whispered.

"Well, anyone who likes a Chambers is not welcome in our crowd."

I almost wanted to laugh. These girls acted like I couldn't hear them, and furthermore, I didn't give a rat's ass about being in their little clique or whatever it was.

The students around us began to disperse, some given me evil looks, letting me know that for sure I was not liked, and would never be.


	35. The Day Ends

**Finally I can post another chapter. Reviews would be very much appreciated **

That night wasn't one of my best. I went home after school, avoiding Teddy, Gordie and even Chris. I walked through the empty streets of Castle Rock alone, coming across no one.

The day had started out perfectly fine, considering it was my first day at a new school. But once I got to lunch, everything was flipped around.

I had been guaranteed to make no friends this year. I didn't exactly regret that Chris and I had come out with our little secret, but I didn't find it fair that either of us had to deal with this.

For the first time in my life I knew how he felt.

In Chicago, I had had about as many friends a girl could ever dream of. It seemed I made a new friend each day. Guys tended to like me and talk to me; I had great grades, etc.

Chris was the complete opposite of me. All his life he had faced people who refused to talk to him and bad grades because of his family issues.

Only now could I slightly feel what he had felt all those years, and I hated it.

At home I walked straight into my room. I had a key to the front door. My mother was still at work and so was my father so I was stuck in a huge mansion all by myself. To this day people tell me, "That must have been so awesome being able to hang out in such a big house all by yourself."

It's not true though. It's one of the worst things about being rich. Yes, I had all the friends and money and clothes I needed, but that didn't mean I was never lonely.

In fact, I was lonely a lot.

Now, facing a quiet house, I sat on my bed, looking at the mess of drawings around me. Almost all were of Chris. Chris smoking a cigarette. Chris laughing. Chris in the tree house. Chris leaning against the tree in the woods on the Ray Brower journey. They all told a story. I knew that if I kept these I would never forget him.

I began to drift into a sleep at only about 6 P.M but I was awoken by a strange tapping. No, it was more like a banging or knocking. I was disoriented and confused as I tried to figure out where the sound was coming from. I stood up and searched my room until my eyes landed on the window.

There was a pause. Then another knocking sound. And I saw something hitting the window. It looked to be a rock.

Because of how tired I was, I was quickly struck out of the mode at the utter surprise.

I knew immediately it had to be one of the guys. Who else would visit me?

And sure enough it was. I looked through the thick glass and down onto the front lawn.

Instead of seeing the golden blonde haired boy like I had expected, I saw a scrawny dark haired boy.

It was Gordie.


	36. Gordie Visits

It was still early, but I just felt like I had awoken at midnight, so I was shocked that Gordie would be here.

I looked at him through the window. I couldn't exactly tell what he wanted. He seemed fairly happy to see me but it also looked like he was nervous. Maybe he had some news to share with me. But my brain was already wracked with enough information and I didn't feel like thinking.

I motioned for Gordie to make his way to the front door and I'd invite him in.

I walked through the big, empty house and found my way to the front. I opened the door slowly and saw a giddy Gordie standing in front of me.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey," he replied.

There was a moment of silence in which I awkwardly tried to occupy myself with my hair.

"Are you okay?" Gordie asked with concern etched all over his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said. But even I knew that it was totally unbelievable.

Gordie invited himself in and told me to tell him what the problem was.

"I haven't had the best day," I admitted.

He nodded, not replying. I stayed quiet for a minute to see if he would add anything, but when he didn't, I spoke on.

"Well, I'm never going to make any friends in this town."

He looked offended, but in a joking manner, "Hey what about me? What about us?"

"Besides you four." I replied, "But I'm not used to this at all. I mean, I've always had lots of friends."

I shook my head, trying to dismiss the topic.

"Maybe I'm just spoiled rotten and I never realized it."

I looked at Gordie to see his reaction. He was looking at me and he shrugged, "Yeah, you kind of are. I mean, no one in this town lives like you do. People are jealous."

I nodded, "But I wish I wasn't. I never asked to be rich. I could care less about the clothes I wear or what size house I live in. I just want to be normal."

Gordie seemed to be listening to everything perfectly and I could just talk and talk.

It was now almost 7 and I knew my mom would be home soon.

"Thanks for coming," I told Gordie.

"No problem. You are my friend after all." He smiled.

"Yep. See you at school tomorrow okay?"

"Okay," he said.

He turned to leave and I was closing the door behind him, when he suddenly spun around again.

"Cass?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are you with Chris?"

The question was completely unexpected and unfortunately after moments of thinking, I realized I didn't know the answer.

"I-I, I don't know." I wrinkled my forehead, trying to figure it out. The question had just struck me so suddenly, I couldn't think of the answer. I tried searching my brain, but nothing worked.

"Bye Gord-o." I said dismissively, watching him turn away as I shut the door.


	37. Shocker

Once Gordie was gone, I needed a moment to think to myself.

I knew the reason I was with Chris. The reason was because I felt bad for him. But it wasn't only that. It was because he was the sweetest guy I had ever met and because he dealt with the crude comments every day. And it wasn't only that, but he loved me, and I loved him.

It didn't hurt that he was gorgeous as well.

I heard something outside of the door as I stood in the living room.

Slowly, I opened the door again to see Gordie still on the porch. He hadn't moved an inch since I closed the door on him.

He looked like he needed answers, "Really? Why do you like him?"

I sighed, "Because I do Gord-o."

"But why?"

I tried explaining to him why I loved him and why we were together. But whenever I started a new sentence he just seemed more confused, or unhappy.

He nodded though.

"Look Gordie, I just like him okay? Is there a problem with that?"

I realized immediately afterwards, that that was a bad thing to ask. Of course there was something wrong with that. For some reason or another he didn't like me being with Chris.

"I need to talk to you about something Cass."

I hadn't expected that, "Okay." He came in again and sat himself down on the sofa.

"So, what is it?" I asked him, waiting for an answer.

He was silent for another minute, while I patiently sat beside him.

"There is a reason I don't like you guys together."

He was so blunt about it. I was quite shocked that he would actually say it, even though I already knew.

I continued to wait for him to go on.

"I like you okay?"

He almost shouted it, like he was angry that I had never noticed.

Then he got up and walked out the front door.

He turned around one last time to look at me as he said, "I have since the first day I met you in the tree house."

And with that, he walked down the porch steps and didn't look back.


	38. Knowing

I was all out of whack. I had never expected someone like Gordie to tell me something like that. He was always too shy and too quiet, even around his friends.

I felt like my brain was slowly melting and I couldn't take it anymore. The rest of the night I stayed up in my room. I mostly tried falling asleep but if that didn't work, I drew. It didn't matter how tired I was, I could always draw.

Once again, piles of paper were strewn to ever side of me. Eraser marks scattered the floor. Pencil shavings floated lazily in the air after many sharpenings.

Everything was so silent and peaceful; I was letting my thoughts go, until I heard a sudden loud knocking. It wasn't on my door though. It came from my window.

I jumped nearly out of my skin and sprang out to see who it was, though I knew perfectly well that there were limited options.

_Chris_

_No Gordie._

_No Chris. _

I went back and forth in my mind, wondering who it could be.

Cautiously, I crawled towards the dark window and opened it slowly.

There in front of me awaited Chris with gleaming blue eyes and a smile.

"God you scared me," I said, holding my hand to my chest.

He laughed, "You're up."

"Yes, I'm up. I can't sleep. What are you doing here?"

"Just thought I would come over."

"At like midnight?"

Chris shrugged, hopping into my room over the ledge.

"You okay?" He asked me, turning to look at me.

"Yeah, fine."

But Christopher Chambers knew me well enough to know that wasn't true. Even I had been a total stranger, he would have known something was wrong.

"Cass? Don't even try denial. It don't work on me."

I laughed slightly, though remaining quite serious, "I just don't know how to say it," I sighed, slumping onto my bed.

"Just say it. It's simple." Chris sat down beside me.

I was about to start talking, when Chris said, "If it helps, I might know what you're getting at."

I turned to look at him. Whatever he was about to say didn't seem terrible, but my heart pumped anyway.

He looked at me, "Is it something about Gordie?"

I stiffened in response out of pure shock.

"I figured. I know that he likes you and I know that he told you today." Chris was no longer looking me in the eye. He had turned his head forward, facing the wall at the opposite end of my room.

I didn't reply immediately. It took me a minute to gather my thoughts.

"Yeah. I didn't know what to say to him."

Chris nodded, "It's no big deal. You're beautiful and nice and smart and any guy would be stupid not to like you." He was smiling again.

But something told me that he was bothered by it slightly more than he showed.

"Goodnight Cass," Chris said, getting up to leave.

"Goodnight Chris," I replied and let him kiss me softly on the forehead.

I watched him climb through the window and disappear into the darkness.


	39. Seriously, Let's Leave

It was hard to tell how Chris was feeling. He had acted so odd about the whole thing, a little too calm. I was worried about him. It was times like these where I got a weird feeling in my stomach. I was worried he would lose his mind and flip out, or that he would just stop being Gordie's friend. It was a haunting thought. I shivered, trying to rid of that idea. I didn't want to believe that that would or could happen.

It was early in the morning as I got up. I awoke to the bright sun shining through my window and the cheerful chirping of birds. It felt like they were trying to tell me to cheer up.

But I was tired and groggy.

The events of the previous night came flooding back to me. I remembered the whole Gordie liking me fiasco and Chris' unusual reaction. What was I supposed to think?

I tried avoiding any thought process as I changed into my clothes. I pulled on some old jeans I had. They were ripped at the knee, strands of denim just hanging there. I grabbed the first t-shirt I saw from my cupboard and put it on. I didn't feel like wearing anything else. This was me, a simple girl. There was really nothing else to describe me as.

I quickly got my backpack from the corner of my room, jumped into my worn out sneakers and ran downstairs as quickly as possible. I didn't bother with breakfast, and I knew my mom was long since at work, so I opened the front door and slammed it back shut once I was outside.

It was a nice day, not too hot and not too cold, something unusual for a town like Castle Rock. I went on my way, walking through the quiet streets. I passed many that I never had noticed before: Pierre Avenue, Corey Avenue, even a Chambers street that looked completely deserted and quiet.

I continued my walk, not encountering anyone until I came to the school. There, I saw Chris. He ran towards me as I neared. It was the type of run that looked like he was happy to see me. It was more like he was running from someone.

He came nearer and nearer and the look on his face told me he was tired and probably utterly sick of this world.

"What is it?" I asked. There was worry etched all over my face.

He looked up at me as he came to a stop.

There was a moment of silence.

"What is it?" I asked again.

"Let's leave."

In confusion, I arched my eyebrows.

"Leave?"

"Yeah, let's leave the town."

I almost had to laugh, "We're twelve Chris."

He shrugged, "So?"

And I could tell, he was serious.


	40. Pinky Swear

**Hi Everyone. I decided to add another chapter to the story because I didn't think the last one had much finality. I hope this one is better. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, especially my two best friends, IAmChrisChambers823, and celestialstarynight/Tedward-The-Awesome. Love you all. There might be a sequel if I come around to it. **

I furrowed my brow again, but remained speechless. Chris stood before me, still catching his breath.

"Why would you want to leave now?" I asked calmly, almost in a comforting manner.

"Why not?"

I tried contemplating what he was saying.

But yet again, "Chris, we're twelve. Where would we go?"

He shook his head, "I don't know. But we have managed a few days. How difficult can it be?"

I had to laugh at how 'Teddy' he was being. But he was so serious and sincere. I almost didn't know how to say no.

"We just need to go. Castle Rock is a prison, a hellhole, a trap. I've already been stuck here twelve years, and I don't think I can go another." He looked so dragged down and just plain sad. His face was dark and tired looking. I knew he couldn't stand the town anymore. As a matter of fact, neither could I, and I had only been there a short time.

I looked around the town, deep in thought. It was such a peaceful day, it was almost haunting. There was some rustling in the nearby bushes and trees and only the faint shouts of the kids by the school could be heard.

Chris was still staring at me and I could see in his eyes that he so hoped we could leave.

I looked at him with a small smile. It was meant to say one thing.

_You are crazy._

He smiled back at me, getting the memo, and his face lightened slightly.

I sighed, "Fine, we can leave."

Chris was about to jump up and shout something of pure joy, but before he could, I grabbed his hand and said, "When we are sixteen."

His face fell again, but in way that showed me he wasn't that hurt.

"I have to wait four more years?" He looked at me as if he knew he wouldn't make it, he wouldn't survive.

"Yes, four years." I sighed again, thinking about the amount of time that would be, but I knew we couldn't leave now.

Chris then turned to me with a glimmer in his eye, "Fine, pinky swear that we will leave this shit hole in four years?"

I laughed, "Pinky swear."

And with that, the both of us turned towards the school, locked hands, and walked off into the unknown.


End file.
